Opinion – Page 397
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CommentOral agreements
The CaseThe claimant applied for summary judgment to enforce an adjudicator's decision whereby the defendant was ordered to pay £12,449.70, plus VAT and interest.The claimant was a subcontractor employed by the defendant to manufacture, deliver and install three full flights of stairs from a basement to the second floor of ...
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CommentMy digital life: John Corley
This fit-out specialist is a bit of a cool kid, really – he downloads the latest Russell Brand videos to his BlackBerry, catches up on The Killers’ latest releases and pursues his once-a-day Wii habit
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CommentBuilding buys a pint … for McDowell + Benedetti
For a nine-person architectural practice inhabiting one corner of a down-at-heel fifties office block north of the City of London, McDowell + Benedetti have a happy knack – well, gift – of mixing with the rich and famous.
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CommentLet the games begin
The industry heaves itself into its tracksuit this week, with football sponsorships, ODA stunts, a sporty rebranding, and some deeply unpleasant goings-on at Ashton Town FC
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Can we have the bill, please?
Peter Kilby is correct in stating that a bill of quantity (BoQ) is a good method of procurement (7 November, page 41).
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A message for the RICS
Peter Kilby’s article mourning the death of the BoQ came as a surprise: I had no idea they were no longer seen to be a necessary part of the tendering process.
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No to nuclear
There is much to be welcomed in the new report from the Committee on Climate Change about how to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
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Change is coming
Rupert Choat’s article on 28 November (page 59) concerned penalties which public bodies might incur, if they did not comply with European Procurement legislation.
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CommentThe idiot’s guide to architecture
Although designing ‘pastiche’ buildings is not yet a criminal offence, the received view is that they certainly shouldn’t be built. This is not just untrue, it’s dumb
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CommentThe path to power
With most markets sectors descending vertically, work on a third generation of nuclear power plants can’t begin soon enough.
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Oh, the indignity! Taylor Wimpey falls out of FTSE 250.
When Taylor Wimpey fell out of the FTSE 100 in March, it was not unexpected but still a shock in symbolic terms.Was the construction industry really faring so badly against the caterers, retailers and travel agents that had stayed in?Well, if that wasn't a bad enough, it has now dropped ...
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Is the UK plunging into the worst recession in 60 years?
I am frequently accused of being too gloomy, which is upsetting to a sensitive person who likes to see the sunny side of things.My riposte is that while I might have appeared a bit glum when commenting on the numbers over recent months, in the gloom stakes reality overtook me ...
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No Christmas present for estate agents or the economy in RICS figures
Two bits of good news for house sellers and builders in the latest housing market survey by the surveyors' body RICS.The graph showing the proportion of surveyors reporting prices falls appears to have bottomed out. And the graph showing interest from buyers has turned positive for the first time in ...
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Jarvis - remember them?
The news that Jarvis chairman and former London Mayor pretender Steven Norris has snapped up £21,640 worth of shares in the company was greeted with a weary yawn in the City.It would have been a different story 18 months ago, before the well-documented woes of the company took a backseat ...
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RICS pitch black news on commercial property - prices to fall more than in 1990s
If you like your news black like your coffee, then the latest survey of the commercial property forecast from the surveyors' body RICS will have you putting the kettle on if not reaching for the drinks cabinet.Expect property prices to collapse more than in the recessions of the 1970s and ...
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… and a hard place: Contractor termination
In the last of our series on how the credit crunch is affecting construction firms, we look at how to minimise the damage from terminating a contractor’s engagement
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CommentEnforcing a summary judgement
The CaseJackson engaged VGC to provide various construction services relating to the provision of ducts and cabling on the M3 Motorway. The sub-contract overran by 26 weeks. Following the submission of applications for payment 13 and 14, and the imposition of various set-offs by Jackson, VGC commenced adjudication. The referral ...
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Half price houses by 2011, says the futures market
The futures market has marked house prices down further following the release of the latest Halifax figures and now predicts a fall of 46% in cash terms from peak to a trough in 2011.According to the Tradition Future HPI the price of an average house will plunge to £109,108 by ...